Story [Issue 15] The Crisis - Part 1

[Valletta 834]

   Dear reader, as a disclaimer I would like to inform you that this story is written in a similar way to my previous 3-part story, “Inside Tanki Online”, meaning that the story involves both characters from the outside world and characters from the inside world of the game. If you haven’t read “Inside TO”, I advise you to read it first otherwise you may have difficulty understanding this one.

 

Enjoy!

Valletta

 

   "Meet Michael, Joseph and Jackson. They are probably the most serious and professional tankmen amongst the elite core of the English division of the Tanki Online forces. With years of solid and and straightforward training behind them, these three men founded the infamous “Team Molotov”, which won every single match in the TOF and CSL last year, forcing the judging committee to suspend the team from battling for a period of two months. Team Molotov only consists of three members, but their skills are such that they can easily compete against other tank companies with crews of 5 and 6 people. Many suspect that the clans from the Russian league aren't allowed to participate in the English CSL for the supposed reason of being “too pro”, but in reality it is Team Molotov that keeps them at bay from entering the EN CSL and thus signing a death sentence. Many fans of the crackerjack trio wake up each morning with the hope of meeting one of the “Molotov” members, but never manage to. Now, your dreams may be fulfilled, as we have the one and only, Team Molotov here with us on tonight’s episode of Stars and Tanks!"

 

   All of this was the introduction of the popular evening show, Stars and Tanks, which showcased various Tanki Online celebrities to get out as much “dirt” from them about their plans and careers, personal life and generally other things they shouldn't stick their nose in. Alas, that was what made the show popular with the audience, just like any other commercialized talk show.

   There they were, Mike, Joe and ‘Jackie’ (as his friends fondly called him), sitting in a sofa in front of the camera, with a green screen behind them, onto which the operator would later edit in an authentic looking battlefield background to avoid the TV audience getting bored to death.

 

   "And here we have Emma, our gorgeous reporter on the battlefield, to interview tonight’s guests."

 

Emma: So guys, tell me about yourselves. What do you do in your spare time? Do you find yourselves in sticky situations sometimes, if ever? (haha!) And your playing style? Has it changed recently? Would you give any advice to your fans out there?

 

Michael: Well, haha, I still do get called a cheater, a “hacker”, if you may, every now and then. I don’t blame the people, really, after I installed that turbocharger on my Wasp even I don’t believe my speed to be real. As to weapons, I still prefer Railgun or Smoky, and I’d suggest the same to my followers. Hobbies? Hah, I've been paying a lot of attention to nature recently, I took up gardening and it really helps relieve the stress from a good, long battle.

 

Emma: Okay!... And you, Joe?

 

Joseph: I'm proud to say I'm just as good in my good old Hunter. I tested the turbocharger Mike gave me the other day... I covered the distance to lake Ladoga in two hours... My favourite place stays the low-gravity simulation arena, though, that Moon Silence polygon. I learned my star move, the “moon walk” there, as the Hunter is able to perform the most difficult manoeuvres only in this specific low-gravity field. I’d advise those who plan to try that to use high-octane fuel, as it gives your engine the necessary “boost” to get you enough acceleration for those wicked moves.

 

Emma: Looks like all of you rely on speed and agility to achieve such outstanding results...

 

Jackson: (giggles) Sure, sure...

 

   The last of the three generalissimos was the notorious brute force of the team; He was known for being able to stand in one spot for hour in his modified Mammoth-Twins and fend off any attack.

 

Jackson: ... So yeah, I don’t rely on manoeuvrability to win, I just stand there and maul away anything that comes at me.

 

Michael: Meathead.

 

Jackson: Flimsy Wasp (hehe). But that doesn't mean I don’t use speed buffs. All this additional armour plating needs some extra power to maintain its speed.

He showed a photo of “his only love” which he always kept in his shirt pocket to the camera. Indeed the machine was a beast, having two medium sized turbojets mounted on its sides. It probably drank as much fuel as the other two Molotov players combined...

...

 

   Meanwhile, in an unnamed Russian city lived an unnamed engineer. Each morning of his rather dull life he woke up with the thought of doing something significant for his company, something that would make him remembered by the others. Our man was an electronic engineer for the Tanki Online development crew. His nondescript life went on like that for years until that memorable date in late 2013, when all his perseverance, all his plans magically became a whole and rocketed out through his mouth in the form of one faith-changing sentence:

 

“Why don’t we make fuel in tanki?”

 

   The rest of the devs in the room looked at him in disbelief. A guy who was eating his sandwich dropped it and made a mess on his keyboard.

 

“It will cost 10 crystals per tank, some hulls will need half a tank to function, others will need two. Come on! It is going to cover our expenses for advertising the new hulls! We’ll give 100 tanks free for each player to make them think they’re getting a present, but once that’s over, they’ll be obliged to pay!”

 

   And then it came, the decisive answer from the mouth of another unnamed developer:

 

“... Yeah ... Why the heck not!”

 

   And so began one of the most ridiculous updates in the game. The computer engineers made a dandy icon for the fuel tank and strapped it to the garage shop with the price of 10 crystals. With the implementation of “paid fuel” all of the fuel the tankmen inside the game were using was to be discarded. In Tanki Online terms “discarded” often meant destroyed in the most brutal of ways, and that is exactly what happened to our tankmen.

 

...

 

“...and boy is it a gas hog”, continued Jackie, giggling.

 

   Out of the blue, KABOOM! The green screen behind the interviewees fell off due to the vibrations. Emma began shrieking, the camera operator fell off his chair. A random lamp detached itself from the ceiling and landed near Joe’s head.

As the filming studio became hell on earth, an old man in a uniform rushed in. Team Molotov recognized their former training major, Major Zhukov. He told them the fuel tanks in the garages everywhere were going haywire, exploding and flying all over the pace. Everyone jumped out of the studio and the building in a somewhat orderly fashion to see the cataclysm – burst tanks hopping around, burning fuel pouring on the ground and engulfing everything in flames. The update was being applied.

 

 

End of part 1

Edited July 31, 2017 by Valletta

[hogree 4,179]

Grabbing writing, Val, couldn't stop reading. Really really good job.

[Ilia.ArchangeI 6,785]

Epic.

[q456wert 18]

Nice one.

[lizerdgirl108 397]

Awesome ^_^

[Valletta 834]

Thanks everyone, I'll try to improve in the next parts  ^_^

[datie9 72]

Awesome Val! I'd like to see the next parts :D

[Remaine 4,687]

Awesome.

[donut70 97]

you made it seem like these guys were the most skilled players in the game, but then I found out it was because the wasp and hunter had been made WAY faster then other tanks and the mammoth was modified. Yeah they may be good, but if there tanks are better then any other players how can you say they are the most skilled?

[magnaboy2 656]

Awesome Val
When I started reading I thought it was real,but now I know it's just a story  :lol:

[Eragon 13,876]

agreed very nice

[iact0 2]

That was awesome

[Eragon 13,876]

the pic is cool i wonder how did you do it?

[Farhan55 82]

nice

[Tornadonero 22]

very good story Valetta :) 

[Eragon 13,876]

:blink:

[Finesse 968]

:blink:

Lol

[Valletta 834]

What's weird about it?

[Remaine 4,687]

What's weird about it?

Nothing weird about it; just that it doesn't really suit you.

[meronnatu 151]

Awesome ^_^

[Valletta 834]

Part 2 out here